When They Come Knocking A response to Jehovah Witnesses by Dr Will Marais (PhD. Theology)
When They Come Knocking Published: One16 Publishing 2017, Version 1 Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV ), copyright 2001by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc. Reproduction, printing and distribution is restricted and subject to obtaining approval from the copyright owners at one16publishing@gmail.com First Edition January 1996, Cape Town
Table of Contents A RESPONSE TO JEHOVAH WITNESSES... 1 Introduction... 1 WHAT DOES THE BIBLE REVEAL?... 1 Firstly... 1 Secondly... 2 Thirdly... 2 Fourthly... 2 KEY OBSERVATIONS... 3 Well then, who raised Jesus?... 4
A RESPONSE TO JEHOVAH WITNESSES Introduction There are many things that I admire about the Jehovah Witness (JW) faith, and one of these is their devotion to studying the Scriptures. There are also many areas that the Christian faith and JW faith agree on. For example, we both believe that Jesus Christ was a perfect man and that He is a person distinct from the Father. However, JW believe that prior to Christ becoming a man he was a spirit creature, i.e. Michael the Archangel, who became the Messiah at his baptism in the Jordan River, conducted by John the Baptist. In the JW publication Let God be True, it says that Jesus is a mighty one, but not almighty, as Jehovah God is. In the Watch Tower magazine, April 15, 1957, it says that Christ and God are not equals. This is a very serious statement because it says to us that God himself did not die on our behalf. If this is so, He has no right to offer us the gift of salvation or atonement for our sins. We would still have to do something for ourselves (as was the case with the Jews in the Old Testament - they sacrificed the Passover lamb plus they had to keep the Mosaic law). Michael (the archangel) is a creature, a created being, as was the sacrificial lamb or goat in the New Testament. Michael and the lamb were created beings. Only God, our creator can have the authority to offer to become a final (once off) sacrificial substitute for our sins. WHAT DOES THE BIBLE REVEAL? Firstly Does the Bible reveal Christ as God the creator? In Matthew 1:23 Christ is called Immanuel, which means God with us. In John 20:28, Thomas called Christ, My Lord and my God. In Colossians 2:9 it says, In Him dwelt the fullness of the Godhead. In Acts 7:59 Stephen called Jesus Lord, and in Romans 10:9 we are told that Jesus is Lord. The word Lord in the Greek is kurios, which is Jehovah in Hebrew. Although the JW s present arguments to oppose the above verses we (Christians) still see Jesus being called Jehovah (God Almighty). WHEN THEY COME KNOCKING 1
Secondly we also see that the one called the Christ in the New Testament is directly related to the one called Jehovah in the Old Testament. In Isaiah 6:1-10 we see the prophet Isaiah writing about Jehovah, and yet John writes in his gospel account in 12:31-42 that Isaiah was speaking about Jesus glory. We both know that we are only to worship Jehovah God, instructed in Exodus 34:14, but the writer to the Hebrews in 1:6 tells us that the angels worship Jesus Christ. In Isaiah 44:6 we see Jehovah being called the first and the last. Then again in Revelation 22:13 we see Jesus Christ being called the first and the last. This shows us that the name Jehovah is used for both God the Father and God the Son. Could this be because they are both Deity i.e. separate persons operating in the Godhead, but of the same one Divine essence? Thirdly Certain attributes given in the Bible to Jesus Christ can only be given to Jehovah. Such as; Jesus knows everything (Omniscient) John 1:48, 2:25, 6:64, 16:30. Jesus is eternal. Micah 5:2. Jesus is all powerful. (Omnipotent) Matt 28:18, Hebrews 1:3. Jesus is unchanging. (Immutable) Hebrews 13:8. Fourthly In the JW new world translation of the Bible, it reads in John s gospel 1:1 In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God...and the Word was a god, which implies that Jesus was a demi-god. Although I have only eight years of Greek study, both in elementary, advanced and in Greek grammar (Greek Construct - Dana and Mantley A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament ), I believe I can speak with a measure of authority in this field. I believe the Jehovah's Witness translators were sincere when translating this passage of scripture but were, nevertheless sincerely wrong. That is, grammatically wrong. They are absolutely correct in pointing out that the Greek word for God at the end of John 1:1 had no definite article that preceded it but this does not mean it should be translated 'a god' instead of 'God'. The reason John did not include a definite article was due to the fact that the word 'God' was the definite predicate nominative in this sentence. Every definite predicate nominative which is placed directly in front of a verb does not have a definite article. Let us simplify this grammatical law by looking at John 1:1 dissected. It reads: 'THEOS EN HO LOGOS', which translated reads; 'God was the Word'. 2 WHEN THEY COME KNOCKING
Here we see: the subject is the Word. the verb is: 'was'. the predicate nominative is God. The predicate nominative usually follows the verb but if it precedes the verb, it is speaking of the object or person already spoken of in the sentence. In this instance, we know the subject is 'God' and therefore it does not need a definite article when repeated. This law is simply saying to us - don't draw attention to the obvious by putting in another definite article. We can, therefore, conclude that the 'Word' who is Jesus, is God and not a god i.e. one of many other little gods that God created. Consistency is vitally important in the interpretation and translation of Scripture which the JW's Bible called 'New World Translation' doesn t follow. Where there is no definite article in John 1:1 they give God a small g but when there is no definite article in John 13:3 they use the name God with a capital G. Why? Because the deity of Jesus isn't an issue in 13:3. It is also interesting to see that Dana and Mantley comment in their Greek manual for grammar in the New Testament, that when THEOS' (God) is used without the definite article it signifies Divine essence and when the definite article is used, it always signifies Divine personality. For any advanced Greek scholar, it is also common knowledge that THEOS is a definite noun and cannot have the indefinite article 'a'. Therefore John 1:1 must read 'In the beginning was the Word (Jesus) and the Word was with God and the Word (Jesus) was God. KEY OBSERVATIONS 1. When John tells us that Jesus was and is God, he is not saying that Jesus is the Father. He is simply implying that Jesus is as much God as the Father is. The Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God. All three are God but none of the three are the other person. Although all three are of one Divine essence, they are three distinct persons with their own wills and personalities - yet they never disagree in purpose. 2. The JW's say that Jesus was the first being created by God. Their argument stems from Colossians 1:15-17 where Jesus is called the 'first born' of God. The Greek word 'first born' i.e. prototokos used by Paul in this passage does not mean first created or first birthed. It means first in all authority over all matters. If Paul wanted to say first birthed or first created, he would have used the word 'protoktistos', but he didn't. The Old Testament shows us clearly that 'first born' was also a term used to denote anointing and not necessarily birth sequence. In Exodus 4:22 we see God calling Israel (Jacob) His first born when in actual fact Jacob's brother Esau, was the one born first. In Genesis 41:51 we are told that Joseph's eldest son was Manasseh, but in Jeremiah 31:9 we see that Ephraim (his younger brother) is the one God calls His 'firstborn'. Jesus was the First Born of God, i.e. the One who has ultimate authority, anointing and power. WHEN THEY COME KNOCKING 3
3. The Bible shows us that all three persons in the Godhead function together at all times (e.g. in the resurrection of Christ). 1 Thess 1:10 the Father is spoken of as raising Jesus. John 2:19 we see Jesus saying that He'll raise Himself. Romans 8:1 we are told that it is the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus. Well then, who raised Jesus? The Triune Godhead did. Our glorious three in one God. In 1 Kings 19:9-15 we see Jesus the Word spoken of as Almighty God i.e. as Jehovah, but God the Father is also called Jehovah in the same passage. Jesus, who is also called Jehovah in this passage first questions Elijah (who is hiding in the cave). After Elijah answers Jehovah, Jehovah tells Elijah that Jehovah (this time the Father) wants to see him at the entrance of the cave to ask him the same question. Elijah goes to the cave s entrance and meets with the second Jehovah (this time the Father). As we have already said, all three persons in the Godhead are the same Jehovah. Jesus is without doubt Jehovah, as is the Father and the Holy Spirit. I do not know how this can be or how the Godhead functions but I do know that the Scriptures show consistently that each one has a specific role: The Father always initiates (as in Genesis chapter one). The Son always authoritates and we see this in John chapter one where we read; and without Him (i.e. Jesus) nothing was made that is made John 1:3. The Holy Spirit always activates what the Father has initiated and that which the Son has authoritated. Although the One is not the other, all three together make up the Godhead of whom Scripture speaks and says; 'And this is the testimony that God has given us, eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son, has life and he who does not have the Son, does not have life'- 1 John 5:11-12 Each one of us who are born again has a personal testimony of how we surrendered our lives to God the Father through Jesus His Son and as a result, we now know that we have eternal life. Without believing and accepting what the Bible says about Jesus Christ being Almighty God come in the flesh, we cannot have eternal life. In the light of what has been shared above, do you know that you have eternal life? God the Father, as well as God the Son (Jesus) who was called the Word before taking on human form, as well as God the Holy Spirit, have all now done what was necessary to allow us to be forgiven of our sin and to have the right to be called sons of God. The invitation is waiting. 4 WHEN THEY COME KNOCKING